Fallout
by Beastbot X
Summary: After a near disaster brought on by Apocalypse, the general public isn't too happy with Mutants... and this time, they have a real weapon in their arsenal to eradicate any Mutants they come across. First in my X Men: Evo series.
1. Chapter 1

"Fallout, Part I"

_(NOTE: Thanks for taking time to read the first fic in my X-Men: Evolution series! First, though, before I get started, a few notes/warnings on what to expect from this series._

_First, if you only want to read a series that brings X-Men: Evolution as close as possible to the "classic" X-Men continuity, then this series is NOT for you. I am going to branch out in any direction that I feel is appropriate, and anything—yes, ANYTHING—that does not directly contradict Xavier's visions at the end of the TV series is possible. Now, this is not to say that I WON'T take anything from the comics—but I will pick and choose what I feel will work the best, and manipulate those events to fit the story._

_Also, this is going by the assumption that the final group shot in the last episode of the series was done as a "good-bye present" to the fans. Thus, I am not automatically assuming that X23, Gambit, Angel, etc., have all suddenly joined the X-Men for no apparent reason. What happened to them after "Ascension," you will find out… eventually. :) _

_And finally, this is NOT a series that is high on romance (though I don't necessarily have a problem with those). Yes, relationships will be addressed, but they will take a back seat to the plot arcs and action—must like they did in the TV series. Now, on with the fic!)_

"This is SO lame. I feel gypped."

"Aye, I know," Rahne said, sighing as she looked at all the New Mutants gathering on the stage. Well, almost all of them—Rahne and Jubilee were stuck watching the celebration instead of participating in it. "If only our parents hadn't pulled us out of Xavier's earlier, we could've gotten credit for savin' the world, too!"

"Hey, at least they let you join again after really seeing what the Xavier Institute is all about," Logan cut in, coming up behind the two teens and placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

"But it's not fair!" Jubilee protested. "We joined at about the same time as Bobby, Jamie, Ray, and the rest! How come THEY'RE getting a ceremony making them official X-Men and everything, while we're stuck just watching!"

"Because they showed that they can handle tough situations under pressure," Logan reminded her. "They've come a long way from their earlier days here."

"But we could've helped out as much as they did!" Rahne countered.

"Maybe," Logan admitted, "But you have to understand where the Prof is comin' from with all this. He wants to make sure you kids are in situations that you can handle—these guys have proven themselves ready, whereas you haven't yet. I'm sure your time'll come eventually."

"It better come soon," Jubilee muttered under her breath.

The massive backyard of the Xavier Mansion was packed with people—all the relatives of the former New Mutants had driven in to see their kids on this momentous occasion. A few others, such as Havok, Boom Boom, and Angel, had decided to hang around the Mansion for a few more days before they were finally to head back to their homes. It had only been four days since the near-apocalypse, and since they had been called to help the X-Men on their important mission anyways, they decided to make the most of it and socialize with their fellow Mutants for a time. The weather was perfect for the celebration—the forecast had actually called for severe thunderstorms, but Ororo had kept that from being a problem.

"It's almost time to start," Jean said as she hurried up to the gathered soon-to-be-X-Men, standing and talking with each other. "Are you guys ready?"

"More than ready!" Bobby grinned, flashing a thumbs-up to the young instructor. "Man, this is so awesome… I love the new duds!"

As part of their becoming bonafied X-Men instead of just Mutants-in-training, the former New Mutants had all gotten their choice of customizing their uniform, instead of just sticking with the standard blue-and-yellow outfit. Some had only changed their uniform little, only adding a decorative flare or variation. Berzerker had only added a lightining bolt pattern across his chest, leaving the rest of his costume the same. Cannonball had added an X-shaped sash across his chest and made the shoulder pads of his costume bigger, in a manner similar to Cyclops' costume. Multiple and Sunspot, neither of them particularly creative individuals, had decided to just stick with their old uniforms. Iceman, always wanting to be the center of attention, had spared no expense. His costume was now mostly icy blue, a color similar to that on Quicksilver's costume, though the gloves, boots, and belt were dark blue. He also sported icy translucent shoulder pads. Magma had also modified her costume substantially, having added a red stripe down the center of her outfit, while changing the base color of her costume to black, in a design akin to Shadowcat's.

"Alright then," Jean nodded. Closing her eyes and concentrating, Jean sent out a quick telepathic message to everyone at the ceremony that things were just about to start, and within a few seconds everyone settled down and took their seats.

Stepping up to the podium, Jean began her opening speech.

"Thank you all for coming. I understand that these past few weeks have been difficult times, but as many of you out there have seen, the New Mutants endured it tremendously well. That is why we are here today, both to commemorate their achievements by granting them the status of official X-Men, and also to welcome a few new faces here at the Institute…"

Beast, still listening to Jean's speech from the midst of the audience, glanced over at Xavier sitting next to him. Hank had noticed that Xavier, after the thank-you speech the professor had given soon after the victory, had been mostly silent. Hank had sensed that something was wrong, but he had figured that whatever it was, Xavier would've gotten over it by now—dwelling on something like this was just not like the man. Even now, on a day that should have made the professor delighted with the progress he had made with the New Mutants, Xavier looked rather troubled. And was that a tear streaming down from one of Xavier's eyes?

"Charles, what's wrong?" Hank whispered, laying a hand on the professor's shoulder. "This should be a great day for you. Just look at how much you've helped out these kids in gaining control of their powers."

"I… I'm fine. Thank you, Hank," Xavier said, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve.

Hank noticed that even as Xavier wiped his sleeve, the man's gaze seemed fixed on someone of the stage. Following Xavier's gaze, he saw that it was focused on…

"It's about Jean, isn't it?" Hank asked. "What's going on?"

"It's…. it's just something I saw in my glimpse of the future via Apocalypse, Hank," Xavier said in a low tone. Shaking his head, Xavier sighed. "Jean does not deserve that… she, of all people…"

"What? What will happen to her?" Beast said, his voice slightly more urgent.

"She… we'll discuss it later, Hank. Others might overhear."

Beast wanted to press the Professor more, but he knew Xavier well enough by now to understand when the conversation was finished. Sighing, Hank turned his attention back to Jean, who was finishing up introducing the New X-Men and their (mostly) new costumes.

"…and finally, Sam Guthrie, code name Cannonball!" Jean said, prompting the audience to cheer and clap as the final New X-Man stepped onto the stage, waving shyly.

"And, as some of our New Mutants graduate to become X-Men," Jean continued, "we have a few new recruits as well to fill the Institute's ever-increasing enrollment list. I'd like us all to welcome our newest members, Danielle Moonstar, code name Moonstar, and Piotr Rasputin, code name Colossus!"

The hulking Russian dwarfed the Native American by comparison as the two stepped on stage, even though Moonstar was of roughly average height for her age.

"Danielle will be joining as a New Mutant, while Piotr will become an instructor-in-training here at the Institute. Now, we'll break for a few hours before the celebration party tonight, so feel free to talk to whomever you'd like or roam around the Mansion. Refreshments and snacks are on the rear patio. Let's give our New Mutants and New X-Men a final round of applause and congratulations!"

* * *

"Fury," Logan said, his eyebrows arched in surprise as he recognized the gray-haired man with an eyepatch walk past him. "I'm surprised to see you here, of all people."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stopped and turned back to Wolverine, taking the ever-present toothpick out of his mouth. This was the first time Logan had ever seen Nick in anything but a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. Fury looked almost funny in a regular button-down shirt and jeans.

"I convinced my boss to give me a day's leave, Logan. Being here for this is the least I could do, after seeing how you guys collectively pulled our butts out of the fire… not to mention saving the world and all that. Though… I'd appreciate it if we didn't talk business here. I don't want anyone here from the general public to overhear about… well, everything I'm involved in, really."

"Gotcha," Logan said, smirking. "So…. how are the wife and kids, then?"

"Heh," Fury said, eyeing some of Cannonball's many relatives as they passed by. "Yeah, the uh… wife and kids. They're doing alright. Johnny got all A's on his last report card, and Mary landed a part in the school play."

Logan laughed harder than he had in years.

* * *

"So," Piotr said as he settled down at a small table next to the tennis court with Storm, Jean, and Cyclops, "How much… work is involved in this? I am willing to work hard, you understand, I am just wanting to know."

"Oh, some of them can be a real handful sometimes," Scott said, glancing at Ororo and Jean, who smirked, "But… you get used to it. Eventually."

"Watch out for Bobby, though," Jean said. "He's gotten a little better since he first joined, but he still has a definite show-off side to his personality."

"I will keep that in mind," Piotr said, nodding. "What will I be teaching here?"

"Mostly combat exercises, since your Mutant ability seems to be tailored to that," Storm answered. "Unless that's a problem…?"

"No, not at all. I was just thinking that I should probably start to draw up some lesson plans.

"Listen…" Piotr continued, sighing. "I just want to thank you for letting me teach here. Even after all that I have done against the X-Men."

"Hey, don't worry about it, Piotr," Jean said. "It wasn't your fault, Magneto forced you to work for him. Besides, we got your family to a safe place after we found out Magneto wasn't killed by Apocalypse. You don't need to worry about their safety."

"Yes… thank you, again. I am in your debt," Piotr said, bowing his head slightly. "I will still be able to visit my family occasionally, however?"

"Yeah, sure," Scott answered. "Around Christmastime most of the students and instructors here go home for the holidays, so you'd have time to visit them then. Spring Break they also have off, and during the summer classes are less frequent, so you could take a few days' leave then, if you wanted."

"That is good. I will probably do so then," Colossus said, smiling.

* * *

"It's very nice of you to let me share your room, Kitty. Are you sure it's not a problem?"

"No problem at all," Kitty grinned as she helped her best friend unpack her things in their bedroom. "I talked to the Professor about it beforehand, and he was fine with the arrangement. Besides, my former roommate Rogue moved out of here and into her own room a few months ago, so it's not like you're displacing anyone else."

"Why did Rogue change rooms? Do you two not get along or something?" Moonstar asked.

"Well, we didn't at first," Kitty admitted, "but after the whole Mutant thing went public, all of us here at the Institute became a little closer, since we lost most of our friends at school. Birds of a feather flock together, y'know?"

"Yeah," Moonstar replied. "But you didn't get to my question-- why did Rogue decide to change rooms?"

"Oh, right. She went through some… tough times a little while back," Kitty sighed. "All those people she had absorbed stayed inside of her head, and she had to have all of them driven out by the Professor, and then she had to deal with a host of other problems… it was rough on her, to say the least. She needed a place to herself."

"I can imagine," Danielle said as she hung up the last of her clothes. "There, all finished. Again."

"Yeah, it does feel a little like déjà vu," Kitty giggled. "Even if the first time you 'came' to the Institute, it was all just in our heads."

"At least this time, I don't have any problems with controlling my powers. Professor Xavier really helped me to control them with regular sessions, which is what convinced my grandfather to allow me to come--- AH!"

Moonstar yelped and stumbled back as Kurt popped into existence right in between the two.

"Don't worry, you get used to it. Sorta," Kitty said to Moonstar, who was trying to calm her thumping heart down.

"Oh, sorry," Kurt said, turning from his position facing Kitty to look at Moonstar. "I didn't know you were in here."

"It's—it's alright," Moonstar said, regaining control of her composure.

"What is it, Kurt?" Kitty asked.

"Lance is at the front gate," Kurt said. "He wants to talk to you."

Kitty sighed.

"Lance? Who's Lance?" Moonstar asked.

"A member of the Brotherhood of Mutants," Kurt answered.

"But… why is he here? I thought the Brotherhood were the bad guys…"

"Sort of," Kitty said. "Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. Which is exactly what I need to talk to Lance about…"

"Um… okay…" Moonstar said. "I don't really know what's going on, but I guess it's none of my business…"

"Don't worry, I'll be back in a little bit," Kitty said. "Kurt, would you mind porting me out there?"

* * *

_BAMF!_

"You want me to stay here?" Kurt asked Kitty. "I can pop over and get the others if there's any trouble."

"I'll be fine, Kurt," Kitty said off-handedly, eyeing Lance who was waving to her a couple dozen yards away from the other side of the entry gate.

"Okay…." Kurt said before he ported away, though from the tone of his voice he obviously wasn't convinced.

"Hey, Lance…" Kitty said as she walked slowly up to the gate. "Um… what do you want?"

"Hi, Kitty," Lance said cheerfully. "Hey listen, I know you've got a party going on there now, but after it's over tonight, did you want to go to a movie or something? Y'know, it'll be kind of our own little celebration for showing Apocalypse who's boss."

"Listen… Lance…" Kitty said, sighing and rubbing the back of her neck as she looked at the ground. "I don't… I don't think we should see each other anymore."

"…What?" Lance said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why the heck not?"

"You're just not… I don't know if I can trust you."

"Have you lost it? I just freaking saved your life a few days ago!" Lance yelled.

"Yeah, after you, like, tried to kill me and my friends a bunch of times beforehand!" Kitty shouted back.

"Yeah, so I have an anger problem! I'm working on it!"

"Lance, yelling at someone for no reason qualifies as having an anger problem. NOT trying to kill someone's friends! You've also trashed the school parking lot, threatened to kill Principal Kelly, and almost killed a whole group of soldiers!"

"You never had such a big problem with this before—I thought you forgave me for that whole parking lot thing! And why the heck were you hanging all over me after the fight with Apocalypse if you hate me so much!"

"Because… I _was_ grateful when you saved my life," Kitty said, her tone softening. "And I wanted to show you it. And that's why I was with you for so long… I saw a side of you that I really liked, and I thought… I thought maybe I could help you get rid of your… violent side. But after that fight in the school parking lot, I realized that you're refusing to let yourself change."

"Yeah, right," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I'm just one evil SOB, aren't I? After all, only a member of the eeeevil Brotherhood could stop an exploding train from taking out an entire city block. Better lock me up."

"There, see, that's exactly what I'm talking about!" Kitty said, exasperated. "You KNOW much of the stuff you're doing is wrong, because you recognize when something you've done is right! But you still do whatever you want to most of the time—_including_ being responsible for that very disaster, I might add! And now that anti-Mutant hatred is, like, skyrocketing, that's the last thing this city needs! All of this is _why_ I didn't want to be your girlfriend anymore during that fight in the parking lot last spring, and why I don't want to be your girlfriend now!"

"Yeah, whatever," Lance muttered, turning away from Kitty and starting to walk away. "I said it before, and I'll say it again—I'll _never_ be good enough for you and your goody-goody friends."

"It doesn't look like it," Kitty said softly to herself, turning and walking quickly back towards the Institute with her arms crossed across her chest, tears flowing down her cheeks. "But you could've been…"

* * *

"Hey man, you sure we can trust those two police guys? I mean, if they spill the beans and the whole department finds out what's going on here, we all could be in the slammer for a long time…"

"Don't worry about it—I've known Mr. Spear for a long time," Spear's personal assistant said, ushering the man who was questioning him as well as the long line of other visitors in line behind him to take their seats. "If he trusts those two, it's good enough for me. They'll keep a lid on this, sir, I assure you."

"Well… okay…" the man said, eyeing the two policemen guarding the door, who smiled in return. Slowly, the man found an empty seat near the far end of the large warehouse room and took a seat, with dozens, even hundreds, of people filing in behind him and taking their seats, eyeing their surroundings.

The warehouse was a mess. A few large vats still stood in one corner of the room, and judging from the bubbling sounds coming from inside them, they held some kind of liquid. There were several other vats in the room, but they had all been overturned long ago. There was also lots of other damage in the room, such as large chunks taken out of some of the walls, smashed processing equipment, and the like. The room looked like it had been recently cleaned, though anyone there could see that a lot more cleaning still needed to be done—for one thing, the floor smelled funny and was tinted an odd maroon color…

Once it was clear that everyone that was going to come to the gathering was here, the two policemen closed the doors and a young, brown-haired man in a suit walked onto the hastily-built stage in front of the audience. Stopping in front of the podium, he tapped the microphone twice to make sure all the equipment was working properly, then began to address the audience.

"Thanks for coming, ladies and gentlemen—as many of you probably already know, I'm Guy Spear. You probably remember that sports drink that hit the market for a few weeks late last spring, Powr-8. Well, as many of you probably DON'T know, the reason it was pulled was because it was poisonous to Mutants, and ONLY Mutants. It obviously didn't cause any negative effects in humans.

"Even though I said publicly that I shut down production of Powr-8 immediately to get the government off my back, I, like the rest of you, was a concerned citizen. Concerned about Mutants going to school with OUR kids, working at OUR workplaces, and eating at OUR restaurants…"

Guy Spear was interrupted by a few cheers and shouts of approval, but after a couple of seconds, he continued on with his speech as the shouts and cheers continued and grew louder.

"…And I, like the rest of you, have witnessed their destructive powers! A small group of them nearly destroyed my entire manufacturing facility, and I'm sure you're all aware of the recent near-disaster that almost ended life on Earth as we know it!

"And why? All because of Mutants! If the government won't stand up and defend us from these dangerous freaks of nature, then we've got to take it upon ourselves to do so! And I realized that, through this strange chain of events, I was in a unique position to do something—to help us fight against these Mutants and WIN!

"That's why I've manufactured more Powr-8!" Guy Spear said, motioning towards the large vats behind him. "This liquid can severely weaken and even kill any Mutant through skin contact! With this unique weapon in our hands, we can make our communities safe again! Our schools safe again! And we can keep our KIDS safe again!"

By now, the audience was worked up into an absolute fervor. Guy Spear had to practically scream to be heard over them.

"So I'm offering this Powr-8 at a low cost, just enough to cover the production expenses! Who will take up the fight and send these dangerous Mutants back to where they came from? Is thirty dollars for a gallon of Powr-8 too large a price to pay for your children's safety?"

As a deafening cacophony of negatives assaulted his ears, Guy Spear smirked and started to take the fistfuls of money that went up throughout the audience.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

"Fallout, Part II"

_(NOTE: This fic is rated PG-13 because of a few gruesome injuries that occur.)_

A red-haired teenager wearing glasses rushed through the entryway, hurriedly putting on his work vest as he took out his time card and punched in. Jogging up to one of the cash registers, Arcade almost ran smack dab into a taller, skinny young man with a buzzcut, also wearing the same Toys "R" Us work vest.

"Woah! Take it easy there, Webber! You're only about ten minutes late for your shift, dude. The manager hasn't noticed yet-- he's been in his office all morning, like he always is."

"Good," Arcade said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I was playing on my Xbox and didn't realize what time it was. Are you taking off now, Dan?"

"Yeah, I didn't mind covering for you a few minutes after my shift was over, but I'm starving," Dan said, "I'm gonna go out and get some dinner in me. But hey man, you shoulda been in here about fifteen minutes ago… It was the weirdest thing. A HUGE group of people—musta been upwards of a hundred fifty, two hundred something-- came in and bought up all the Super Soakers we had in the store. They're still out front in the parking lot, filling up their guns."

"Yeah, I noticed them when I was coming in," Webber replied. "They aren't filling them with water, though, they're using some kind of red liquid."

"They're probably all participating in some big squirt gun fight or something," Dan replied, looking out the windows of the storefront at the crowd he was talking about. "Gonna get all messy, or something. It's kinda cool, y'know—you don't see too many adults doing something fun and crazy like that, especially in big groups."

"Man, I wish I had a big clique like those guys," Arcade sighed. "That would be so awesome to get in a squirt gun fight with that many people… heck, if I wasn't working from now until closing time, I'd go out and ask 'em right now if I could join in…"

* * *

"So, where did you wanna hit first?" a blond-haired woman in the midst of the parking lot crowd asked the man next to her. The crowd was finishing filling up their squirt guns and sealing up the remaining Powr-8 for use later.

"Hey, let's go get those Xavier kids first!" a man yelled out from a couple yards away, having overheard the conversation. "You know that's the biggest gathering place for those Mutant freaks here in Bayville!"

"Well, there are those ones living in the sewers…" another man said. "… I heard there's lots of Muties down there."

"We don't know where in the sewers they are!" the blonde-haired woman rebutted. "And I'm not about to trudge through knee-high… debris… looking in vain for a bunch of ragged freaks who'll just take off running if we find them anyway. Buncha cowards down there, I heard."

"Yeah, and you seen the defenses they got around the Xavier place?" another woman piped up from elsewhere in the crowd. "We'd get taken down before we even got in the front gate!"

"Hey, what about that Brotherhood place?" someone else from the crowd shouted out. "They tried to pass themselves off as heroes a while back, remember that? And there's only a few of 'em, we could take 'em down no sweat, and send a message to the other Muties here in the process—we won't be pushed around by them anymore!"

"Yeah, those freaks deserve it!" a man in the crowd yelled out.

"Sounds good to me!"

"Finally, it's time to payback these Muties!"

"The Brotherhood it is, then! C'mon, I know where they live!"

The crowd all gathered around the man who had spoken last, and amid shouting and chants of "No More Mutants!", they followed him down the road.

* * *

"Checkmate. Heheh. You lose again, Freddy."

"Aw, c'mon, Toad! You gotta be cheating or somethin'…. I mean, how come you got two queens and I have none?"

"I keep telling ya, that's the way the game is played, yo! I mean, we got the same number a' pieces, right? You got one more pawn than me, but ya don't see me complainin' about it!"

"I dunno…"

"Will you idiots SHUT UP? I'm trying to watch TV, morons!"

"Geez, Lance, we're just playin' a game!"

"Eh, he's just mad 'cause he lost his Kitty again, yo. Here, Kitty, Kitty!"

"Oh, do NOT start with that BS again, Toad."

"Here, Kitty!"

"Alright, that's IT. Blob, Toad IS cheating—you're both supposed to have the same numbers of each piece."

"I KNEW IT!" Blob roared, throwing the chess set against the wall. "You CHEATED!"

"H-hey now, Freddy, it was just a joke. I was gonna tell ya how it was really played next time. C'mon, let's…. ow ow owwww, that's my earrr…"

Blob ignored Toad's whining and carried the skinny short Mutant by the ear into the kitchen. A few seconds later, the yelping and shrieking began, followed by several crashes and bangs. Lance still couldn't hear what the people on TV were saying, but he didn't particularly mind this kind of interruption.

About a minute later, however, Lance heard someone running down the stairs, towards the front door.

"Will you clods SAVE IT!" Wanda threatened. "There's a bunch of people gathering around our house for some reason—I heard them from my room upstairs. They're chanting some anti-Mutant garbage."

The noise from the kitchen abruptly stopped, and Blob walked out, looking out through the window at the top of the front door. A wobbling, bruised Todd followed a few steps behind.

"Huh, I guess they didn't learn the first time," Blob said, cracking his knuckles. "Nobody messes with the Brotherhood! Just give me a few minutes, I'll send 'em packing…"

"I'm coming with you. I'm getting really tired of this too," Wanda growled. "Toad, go wake up Pietro, tell him what's going on. I'm sure he'll want a piece of this, too."

"What… whatever you say, babycakes…" Toad said, making his way up the steps… slowly.

"Hey, and those idiots are carrying a bunch of squirt guns!" Lance said, as he made his way to the front door and peered through the same window Blob had just looked through. "What are they gonna do, moisten us to death?"

"It doesn't matter what they're planning, we'll—LOOK OUT!" Wanda yelled, as a jagged rock crashed through the front door window. Lance ducked out of the way just in time as Wanda hexed the rock, sending it sailing back out into the front yard.

"Y'know, I WAS gonna let 'em get away with only a few scrapes and bruises," Fred said, cracking his knuckles, "But I'm gonna give 'em a REAL good pounding this time…"

Yanking the door open so hard it almost separated at the hinges, Blob stomped out onto the front pedestal. "You guys better run away right now, or you'll face the wrath of the BLOB!"

"And not just the Blob, but all of us," Wanda threatened, stepping out as well. "Get out of here. NOW."

"Nothin' doing, Gothie!" one of the members of the crowd yelled out amidst other jeers, and fired his squirt gun at Wanda. A reddish liquid splattered her across the face and arm. Wanda growled, and raised her hand—only to suddenly scream in pain as the liquid started to bubble, reacting with her skin.

"What's going on!" Lance said, stepping into the doorway. "Wanda, what's wrong?"

"This stuff…" Wanda hissed, "It feels like ACID! What is…"

"Alright, this stuff works!" cried the man who had squirted her. "Everyone, let's get 'em!"

For the next few seconds, time seemed to move in slow motion, so many things happened at once. The crowd started to bear down on Fred, Wanda, and Lance, with several squirting off more shots at Wanda to keep her immobilized as she became drenched in the liquid. Wanda's screeches of agony tore through the air, immediately drawing Toad's attention from upstairs. Not bothering to take the time to hop down the stairs, Toad crashed out of the upstairs window, a few yards from where Wanda and the others were gathered. Horrified at seeing his beloved in such agonizing pain, Toad launched himself at the nearest person with an incomprehensible shriek, sending them both down to the ground in a heap and drawing the attention of other members of the crowd nearby.

At the same time, Blob gave out a roar and charged into the thick of the crowd, bowling aside people and even throwing some out of the way, severely injuring them in the process. The rioters were not deterred, however, and the nearest ones all shot their squirt guns as one, lacing Freddy's arms and head with streams of Powr-8. Fred gritted his teeth against the pain, but continued forward in a berserker rage, trying to take out as many people as he could while more and more Powr-8 started to react with his normally impenetrable skin.

Meanwhile, Lance let loose a wave of force among the earth towards another section of the ground, toppling dozens of members, some of whom were firing their squirt guns as they were bowled over. Lance grinned in triumph as some of the liquid fell on the rioters' own faces… but stared in shock as the people stood back up, unharmed except for a few minor bumps on the back of the heads here and there.

Just then, Quicksilver speeded out the front door, not needing more than a split second to take notice of what the situation was.

"Pietro, that red stuff doesn't hurt them!" Lance yelled as Quicksilver ran through the crowd far too quickly for them to react yet, snatching away a few squirt guns in the process.

"No, but _I_ will…" Pietro yelled back, beginning to circle about a dozen or so rioters and quickly turning the immediate area into a miniature whirlwind.

Lance desperately sent more waves of force towards people advancing on him, inadvertently cracking the foundation of the house slightly as he did so.

"You jerks want some? Then come get some! I'll take you all down with me!"

* * *

Beast quietly stepped into Xavier's office and closed the door behind him, shutting out the sounds of the evening party coming from downstairs.

"Alright, Charles, you said you'd tell me what's going on later. What did you see in those glimpses of the future? What will happen to Jean?"

"That's… exactly the problem I'm having, Hank," Xavier replied from behind his desk, his hands steepled as they always were when he was in deep thought. "I did glimpse the future in Apocalypse's mind, but… is the future fixed? No matter what I or anyone else does, will what I saw come to pass? Or is what I saw just one of the infinite number of ways things could turn out?"

"That certainly is a question for the ages," Hank said, smiling slightly as he sat down in a chair facing Xavier. "I can't answer that anymore than you can, Charles. But if there's a possibility of… whatever it is… happening to Jean, then you should tell her so she can—"

"No!" Xavier said, a bit more forcefully then he had intended. "It's… not an injury or something I could just tell her to watch out for, Hank. This is something… much more complicated than that. I'm afraid that if I tell her, then perhaps… perhaps this event will happen even sooner than I glimpsed it, that her knowledge of it will accelerate the process. And I must not allow that to happen, even if it means keeping her in the dark about it."

"Then why don't you at least tell me?" Hank said, "You can trust me. I promise I won't tell Jean. But I can at least watch out for signs of whatever you saw coming to pass, and help take the appropriate precautions since I'm out in the field more often than you are."

"Hank, I'm sorry, but… I simply can't risk it," Xavier said sorrowfully. "Even though we've made considerable progress since Jean had her power surge last year, she still tells me that she occasionally will catch a blip of what someone is thinking in the same room she's in, though she quickly reigns her power back in after she realizes she's using it. My mind is powerful enough to be shielded from her accidental scans, but yours is—"

Xavier was interrupted as Ororo burst into the room, an alarmed look on her face.

"Storm, what is it?" Xavier asked.

"You've got to see this, Charles. Come quickly."

* * *

"Again, we're bring you an aerial view of a current riot that has broken out outside the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House," a reporter voiceover said as the television screen zoomed in on the chaos below. "Details are still sketchy, as it has only been going on for about ten minutes or so, but it appears that a large group of civilians are shooting some kind of liquid at the Mutant Brotherhood members, and it appears to be harming them in some way—we are unsure why it is not having the same effect on the civilians, but we will keep you up to date as more details come in. The police are mustering a force to combat the crowd, but it will take a while for a large enough force to be assembled to—"

Xavier turned off the TV, a worried look on his face, then wheeled around to face the other party members, who had been watching the screen with horror. Xavier noticed that Kitty looked especially worried.

"As I feared, the anti-Mutant backlash has already begun as a result of the near-apocalypse a few days ago," Xavier sighed. "X-Men, we've got to stop this before there are any more casualties on either side. Kitty, Jean, Ororo, Bobby, Jamie, Kurt—you six have powers that can be used easily in a non-lethal manner. Please suit up and get down to the Brotherhood house ASAP, and try to stop conflict on both sides, with as few injuries as you can manage, please. Oh, and take protective headgear—the last thing I want is for any of you to get severely injured as well. I'm not sure how these people have gotten a hold of Powr-8, but I know from our laboratory tests—and from Evan's experience-- that it is extremely hazardous to Mutants."

"I'll go meet up with Callisto and see if she can make more of that yellow goop they fed me when I came down with Powr-8 poisoning," Spyke said.

"Good idea, Evan," Xavier said, "We'd very much appreciate that, especially if this doesn't go as well as we'd like it."

All of the X-Men that had been given assignments rushed off, and the other party guests dispersed slowly, looking rather nervous and worried.

All except one, that is.

"I'll see if I can't use my influence to get an extra squad of police on this faster," Nick Fury said softly to Charles, making sure that none of the normal party guests heard their conversation. "I'm also going to look into this whole Powr-8 thing, see if I can't help track down that Guy Spear person you said was being manufacturing it a few months back."

"Thank you, Nick," Xavier said, visible lines under his eyes. "It's been quite a stressful few days. I'm glad to have you on our side."

"Don't worry about it, Xavier," Fury said as he took out his cell phone and started to walk outside. "Your kids handled Apocalypse, I'm sure they can handle this."

"It's not their victory I'm concerned about," Xavier replied. "It's the public's growing hostility towards Mutants…"

* * *

"Oh my gosh, LOOK at all of them!" Shadowcat gasped as the X-Men, all traveling within the X-Van, arrived within visual distance of the Brotherhood house. "It looks like there's even more rioters in person!"

"Which means we'll more than have our hands full, I'm afraid," Storm said as she parked the X-Van and everyone piled out. "Especially since we need to avoid severely injuring any of them."

"Luckily, it seems ve only have to do zat until the police arrive… whenever zat is…" Nightcrawler said.

"Alright, enough with the stalling already!" Iceman said, icing up. "Let's get rolling!"

With that said, Storm and Jean took to the air, Kurt teleported himself and Jamie towards the crowd, Kitty phased into the ground, and Bobby skated on his own ice bridge over to the fight.

* * *

"Storm, I'm not picking up any mental signals coming from Wanda or Toad," Jean said. "They're already unconscious."

"Alright. Jean, see if you can find them and levitate them up above the crowd so they can't be reached," Storm ordered, starting to descend closer to the rioting masses. "I'll start to clear out the rioters."

Storm closed her eyes for a moment and then reopened them, her eyes now a familiar electric blue. Storm clouds suddenly started to appear in the sky, churning, and within a few moments a heavy downpour started. This started to get the public's attention, and much of the large mass of people started to focus their attention on the X-Men. For their credit, however, Xavier's Mutants were more than ready.

Once Kurt teleported himself and Jamie near the crowd, Jamie smacked himself against a nearby lightpost moderately hard, and then did so again and again. Within a couple seconds, there were a few dozen Jamies, all donned in the same protective masks the rest of the X-Men were wearing. The small army of Jamies then ran towards the nearest mass of people, trying to rip the squirt guns from the rioters' hands. Given that Multiple was just 13 years old, however, many of the rioters overpowered their own Jamies and started fighting back—however, every blow they landed on their oppressors just produced another few Jamies, which only added to their problem.

As for Kurt himself, he was busy popping around the "battlefield", taking people's squirt guns from their hands and porting away before the rioters realized what had just happened. Every time he amassed a collection of four or five, Kurt would then teleport up to a nearby rooftop, deposit the guns, and port back into the masses to start the process all over again.

Bobby, meanwhile, was skating around on his makeshift ice bridges, freezing many of the crowd's squirt guns and the arms that held them. A few squirt blasts hit him, but most of the shots splattered against his mask harmlessly. The few that did hit his suit only caused him minor pain, as the downpour quickly diluted the liquid.

Lance was just inside the front door of the house, sending wave after wave of force against his pursuers as he backed up slowly. They seemed to finally be getting the hang of Lance's ability, however, and it now only seemed to be slowing down their progress towards Lance, not stopping it.

Lance was surprised when a familiar figure suddenly phased up from the floor right next to him, carrying a few squirt guns which she promptly dropped.

"Kitty, what the heck are you guys doing here? Get out of here, I don't need your help! We can take care of ourselves!"

"Lance, just cut the macho act and stop already with the mini-quakes! This house is, like, starting to come apart!"

"What, you think I don't know that? But it's the only way I can keep all these idiots at bay, and I'm not about to leave the rest of the Brotherhood here! Quicksilver's the only other one holding his own—even Blob's wearing down!"

Indeed, one look out the doorway confirmed Lance's statement—Blob was right in the center of the crowd. He had managed to fling away or injure quite a large portion of the crowd—the news report Kitty had listened to earlier mentioned the crowd size being around two hundred or so, but now she guesstimated it was only about a hundred people—but Freddy didn't have much left in him. He was absolutely covered in Powr-8, and though Storm's deluge was helping to wash off much of it, the effects had already been done. Blob's skin was almost entirely covered in burns, and the injuries were so severe on his arms they had burned right through his skin. Kitty had to hold back bile as she saw the bloody muscle tissue showing through. Freddy himself seemed to be getting increasingly tired as more and more Powr-8 was squirted at him, and his punches and throws were becoming more and more weak and half-hearted. Quicksilver was moving too fast through the crowds for Kitty to really gauge his status, beating up a person here and there, but she guessed he still must be doing alright if he was still moving so fast.

A sudden strong gust of wind—no doubt the result of Storm—suddenly swept across the front porch, clearing away any rioters standing up in that area. What Kitty saw on the ground made her gasp—in addition to the same gross burns that Blob had endured all over their bodies, Wanda and Toad, both crumpled on the ground unconscious, had countless bruises and cuts. Kitty noticed Toad and Wanda twitch a bit from the rain, so they were definitely still alive, but she was honestly surprised they weren't dead, they looked so bad.

Jean, now being able to spot the two unconscious Brotherhood members from the air, promptly levitated them up to safety, above the reach of the crowd's squirt guns. By now, the combined efforts of the X-Men and the Brotherhood were having a decided effect on the crowd— only about half of the remaining uninjured members had squirt guns, and they were quickly being removed of their "weapons" as well. The sound of police sirens soon sounded in the distance, and many of the rioters on the outskirts of the conflict started to scatter, their hopes of eliminating the Brotherhood dashed.

Some of them, however, were not so easily discouraged. One of the members near the center of the conflict yelled for them to make a final rush towards the house, hoping to hole up inside it and take Lance and Kitty hostage before the police came.

Hearing the call and seeing a large mass of the crowd run towards his and Kitty's position, Lance had had enough. Grunting in exertion, Lance send out one last wave of force through the Earth, this one a doozy. As it spread out, the wave sent the rioters on the ground flying for several meters--- not to mention several Jamies and Quicksilver, who was caught off-guard. The wave even started to crack the foundations of the houses a few blocks away before it died down.

In his anger, Lance had forgotten to take one thing into account before he let loose, however—he was still inside the Brotherhood house.

Kitty screamed a warning as the ceiling started to cave in on her and Lance. Diving and taking a hold of Lance's leg, Kitty managed to phase them both just a split second before the house came crumbling down on top of them.

* * *

It was over, Lance finally realized at he stared at the collapsed house before him. Mystique had neglected to show up yet again after she was freed from Apocalypse's control, and now there was no more Brotherhood boarding house… that was it. The Brotherhood of Bayville was finished.

Lance—and, standing next to him, Pietro—watched silently as the ambulance personnel loaded Todd, Wanda, and, with great effort, Freddy as well into different ambulances. Once the adrenaline had worn off, Blob had finally collapsed under all the pain he had been feeling. He was still conscious, but in such obvious pain Lance could understand why the big guy didn't want to move.

Lance surveyed the scene again. The X-Geeks were helping the authorities to either cuff the rioters that were in reasonable condition or escort to ambulances those that weren't. Although it was now pitch black out, there were so many ambulance and police car sirens flashing everywhere it almost looked like it was broad daylight—although everything was colored red from the lights, of course. The area itself was in complete ruins—diluted Powr-8 soaked the ground, tinting everything further red, and many of the buildings nearby had cracks and dents in their walls, the result of either Lance's earthquakes or Freddy throwing one of the rioters into said walls. The roads surrounding the house were choked with ambulances, police cars, and wounded rioters, and they were also cracked and curved from Lance's tremors, as well.

Lance's attention was turned from the scene as Ororo slowly walked up to the two Brotherhood members, her eyes refusing to meet theirs.

"Um… we're just about finished here. If you want us to give you a ride to the hospital in the X-Van, we could—"

"Forget it," Lance interrupted. "We don't need your pity. I'm going to see if I can get a ride in the ambulance that's carrying Toad. Just… leave us alone."

Pietro, a large bump on the back of his head and a few Powr-8 burns on his a face the only visible injuries from the fight, merely glared at Ororo, then walked off in the direction of the ambulance carrying Wanda.

Ororo sighed and signaled the rest of the X-Men to head back to the X-Van.

* * *

Police Chief Sanchez kicked down the office door, pointing his gun at the center desk chair.

"FREEZE! Guy Spears, you're under arrest for— Mr. Spears?"

Sanchez motioned for the other police officers to enter the room, all of them pointing their guns at the desk chair—its back turned towards them—as they cautiously made their way over to the other side.

Taped to the seat of the chair was a piece of paper, a note hastily scribbled on it—"_SORRY, I'M NOT IN RIGHT NOW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE?"_

Sanchez cursed and tore up the paper.

"Well, we've got his factory under our control, so at least he won't be making any more Powr-8," Sanchez growled. "Let's go and contact the higher-ups, boys—tell 'em we're gonna have to search long and hard for this guy, apparently. Chances are by this point, he's already caught a flight out of the U.S…."

* * *

Xavier wheeled into the hospital room holding the Brotherhood members, accompanied by Ororo and Logan. For it only being a week since the riot, they looked rather well—Pietro's few burns now only looked like shallow scars, and Wanda, Blob, and Toad at least didn't look absolutely disgusting anymore—they were crisscrossed in jagged scabs, bruises, and less-severe burn marks, to be sure, but at least they weren't bleeding everywhere like they had been earlier. Wanda was currently sleeping, but the rest were fully conscious. The yellow goop Spyke had brought after the riot had really helped the healing process, apparently.

"Well, your medical bills are paid, boys," Xavier said, smiling slightly. Pietro just scowled, and Todd and Fred weren't capable of moving much except their mouths, but Lance nodded ever-so-slightly as a thank-you. "The authorities have also rightly determined that you were acting in your own self-defense, therefore you have been acquitted of any charges filed against you by the rioters. Have you any thoughts about where you wanted to go from here—what you wanted to do?"

"If you're talking about joining your squad of geeks, forget it," Lance said. "I tried it once, and it was one of the stupidest decisions I ever made."

"I had a feeling you might say that," Xavier said, his expression turning into a more serious one. "Nevertheless, with you all now homeless and with no one to take care of you, despite our differences, I cannot allow myself to completely leave you on your own so suddenly. Therefore, I have rented an apartment for you downtown. You will find it of acceptable quality. However, given that you are not under my tutelage, and you have no desire for me to gain legal responsibility over you, I am left with only one feasible choice. I have paid a months' rent for your apartment, and provided you with a reasonable amount of food and water, but I'm afraid that after that—"

"Oh, no," Toad said. "Please don't tell me—"

"—it will be your responsibility to pay for it, and to do so—"

"No, no, no, no—"

"—you all will need to seek employment."

"NOOOOOOOO!"

The End


End file.
